On Tue, 5 May 2009, Geoffrey Spear wrote: > I don't believe I can change my opinion after publishing it, but I'd > be fine with OVERRULE to IRRELEVANT or FALSE.
With 3/5 opinions locked in, the only options unless the panel acts unanimously are REASSIGN, AFFIRM (no error rating), or (by default) REMAND. I hadn't considered IRRELEVANT per se; while it would be reasonable as an initial judgement, I think the judge's original opinion remains reasonable and would defer to it -- and overrule to irrelevant sets up a potential conflict with CFJ 2488, which at the moment is the best place to address the material question. So I'm guessing unanimous action is unlikely. That being said, if a panel member wants to write a thorough opinion that turns this case back into a question on the same matter as CFJ 2488, in such compelling language that it could not help but command the unanimous consent of the 5-member panel, it would be right for an august body such as ourselves to (re-)consider it. -Goethe
